The first plant in the country to produce hydrogen through wind power was inaugurated on Saturday by Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas at the Keratea Energy Park, southeast of Athens. In his speech, Sioufas expressed his satisfaction that “the research community of our country, along with the private sector, is pioneering in research and technology development in the very promising sector of hydrogen.” He appeared certain that “the hydrogen economy will create new economic activity and new jobs. Our country can contribute to the effort and claim a portion of this activity either by producing the appropriate equipment or by constructing installations.” The project has installed a 25-kilowatt unit that can produce 5 cubic meters of hydrogen per hour under a 15-bar pressure, fueled by a 500-KW wind generator. The production of hydrogen gas will hit the market in bottles under 220-bar pressure. Sioufas congratulated the Center for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES) and the Rokas company “for their contribution in developing such systems that allow Greece to pioneer in crucial sectors for the energy of the future.” The hydrogen-producing project, funded by the European Union’s Fifth Research Framework Program, has a total budget of 5.4 million euros and includes 14 European research institutions from Greece, Cyprus, Germany, Italy and Portugal, the minister said.